Atlanta Falcons (3-4) who were on a bye for Week 8.Playoff seedings will start getting speculated on very soon http://www.tampabaybuccaneersteamonline.com/beau-allen-jersey , and the Bucs have put themselves in a position where they’re playing from behind. Familiar territory unfortunately.In the end, it was an up and down game with one half going much better than the other and it all came down to a field goal kicker. What else is new. Last week, it was Tampa Bay winning on a walk-off kick. This week, it was the Bengals. How did we get there?THE PLAY: InterceptionsThis isn’t the only multi-play package you’ll find in this week’s column. And why beat around the bush.Losing to Cincinnati falls squarely on the shoulders of Jameis Winston. He accepted as much in his post-game press conference.I’ve been a supporter of his on the field while not liking some of his actions off of it. He’s shown flashes of greatness and always struggled to get consistency out of himself.He was benched in this game because of it. And may not see the field for the Buccaneers again this year. I wrote about this, here.Not much more to say about the topic for now. Here are some gifs in case you missed it in person.THE PLAY: PenaltiesAaron Doster-USA TODAY SportsHard Count is one of my favorite columns to write each week for Bucs Nation. It’s not one of my favorite things to see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive line have to endure against Andy Dalton in Week 8.The Bucs finished the game with eleven penalties for 75-yards. Four of them were offsides or neutral zone infractions. Three of those came on third-downs.Three of these specific penalties came in the first half and helped the Bengals get out to an eighteen point halftime lead, among other things.While they may not make many highlight reels or be remembered by fans weeks from the game, Cincinnati came into the game as one of the better teams in the NFL converting first downs.Giving away free yards to a team not needing much help is a sure way to defeat yourself, and won’t help any defense trying to make up for early turnovers by their offense.THE PLAY: Dirk Koetter’s ChallengeAaron Doster-USA TODAY SportsWith the score 21-6 and just over four minutes remaining in the second quarter, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton found wide receiver Alex Erickson for a five-yard gain on 3rd-and-5 from their own 30-yard line.The play happened right in front of Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter, and after conferring with someone in his headset for a second or two, he dropped his challenge flag.After review the play stood, was not confirmed, and the Bengals had a first down. Tampa Bay was charged with a challenge and a timeout.In the moment, not a bad decision. Had the call got reversed it would have provided Winston and the offense a key opportunity to get back in the game with the second half kickoff being sent their way again.Spot calls are hard to reverse though as there isn’t often a clear and indisputable view of the ball being cradled by a player.To be clear, I didn’t disagree with the challenge. But I wrote it down when it happened Womens Carlton Davis Jersey , because that lost timeout was big.Cincinnati went on to score and make it a 27-6 score after kicker Randy Bullock missed the extra point.The Bucs got the ball back with two and a half minutes remaining in the half and drove down to the Bengals’ seven-yard line. The play which got them there was a completion to Adam Humphries for a first-down.Only problem was, the Bucs had no timeouts and just twenty-one seconds remaining by the time they snapped the ball for the next play.This meant Winston had no choice but to target the end zone on every single pass remaining. He knew it, and the Bengals knew it.Three failed attempts later, Chandler Catanzaro put up his first field goal of the game and the Bucs went into the locker room with nine points. Having one timeout in his pocket would have opened up a few more options for the offense, and perhaps would have led to a touchdown instead of a field goal. Perhaps.THE PLAY: Fitzmagic ReturnsFollowing his fourth - and perhaps most frustrating - interception of the game, coach Koetter pulled Winston and brought in Ryan Fitzpatrick.The veteran quarterback proceeded to take his team down the field three of the four times he got the ball and his team put up eighteen points on the Bengals defense by way of a field goal, two touchdown passes and a two-point conversion to wide receiver Chris Godwin.All of the magic fell short though, as a Randy Bullock field goal as time expired gave the Bengals the win.But the difference in the offense was undeniable and in his post-game press conference coach Koetter even admitted to considering the move earlier, but waited due to Winston’s big connection with DeSean Jackson in the second quarter.There’s no way to prove alternate reality theories of course, but I think most would agree had Fitzpatrick come in earlier, there’s a good chance this team throws two-fewer interceptions and doesn’t surrender a pick-six in the third quarter.THE PLAY: Fitzpatrick Hits the FlatI chronicled strategies for converting third downs against this Bengals defense in a post before the game.In it, I specifically reviewed which kinds of plays Cincinnati defended well and which they didn’t on third downs.DeSean Jackson was the player I identified as being the biggest Bucs player who could help the team achieve this success, and I specifically listed in breaking routes, slants, and drag routes as the ones to use.On 3rd-and-5 from Tampa Bay’s own 20-yard line Authentic Ryan Fitzpatrick Jersey , Fitzpatrick went to the right player, but the offense had the wrong route.Running Jackson out of the backfield and into the flat isn’t going to work against most defenses. I get trying to get him into open space, but the Bengals defense hadn’t missed many tackles up to that point, so it wasn’t likely they would miss one here.The characteristic found in my film study was that the Bengals defense simply didn’t stay with receivers crossing in front of the quarterback well and often fell behind leaving room for a run and catch scenario.It was the only drive Fitzpatrick didn’t take the offense down and score on. So, we can’t get too upset about it. But given the way the game ended, a field goal or touchdown may have very well allowed Tampa Bay to escape Ohio’s ‘Queen City’ with a win, rather than a loss.Notes and highlights from Buccaneers-Lions preseason Week 3 - On the game’s opening drive, Tampa Bay drove 66 yards in eight plays, taking 4:35, culminating in a 14-yard touchdown run by Buccaneers RB Peyton Barber, his second rushing touchdown this preseason. - S Jordan Whitehead registered a sack in the first quarter, stopping Lions QB Matthew Stafford out of bounds for no gain. - The Buccaneers scored their second touchdown of the game in the second quarter, when QB Jameis Winston connected with WR Chris Godwin on a 10-yard touchdown pass to cap a 10-play, 66-yard drive lasting 6:21. Winston now has three touchdown passes this preseason and seven in his preseason career (four in 2016). Godwin has two touchdown catches this preseason. - DE William Gholston registered his first sack of the preseason in the second quarter, bringing down Stafford for a nine-yard loss – Gholston’s second career preseason sack (also one in 2016). - The third sack of the night for Tampa Bay came from DT Gerald McCoy Authentic Ryan Smith Jersey , who dropped Stafford for a seven-yard loss. It was McCoy’s second sack this preseason and the fourth of his preseason career (0.5 in 2016, 0.5 in 2015, 1.0 in 2014). - With seven seconds left in the first half, the Lions lined up for a 62-yard field goal attempt, which was short of the uprights. The missed field goal was returned 109 yards for a touchdown by WR Adam Humphries. The Buccaneers have never had a missed field goal returned for a touchdown in the regular season. - On Tampa Bay’s opening drive of the second half, the team drove 88 yards on six plays, taking 3:22, finishing with a 19-yard touchdown pass from QB Ryan Griffin to WR Freddie Martino. The touchdown reception was the third of Martino’s preseason career (one with Philadelphia in 2015, one with Atlanta in 2014). Griffin now has three touchdown passes this preseason and five in his career (one in 2016, one in 2015 with New Orleans). - In the fourth quarter, the Buccaneers added three more points when K Chandler Catanzaro connected on a 42-yard field goal to finish an eight-play, 32-yard drive. Catanzaro has now made six field goals this preseason. - Tampa Bay has scored at least 30 points in each of the team’s three preseason games this year, the first time in team history that the Buccaneers have reached the 30-point mark in three preseason games (previous high was two). - Buccaneers quarterbacks Ryan Fitzpatrick (115.5), Ryan Griffin (130.9) and Jameis Winston (110.4) each had a passer rating over 100 in tonight’s contest.Courtesy of the Buccaneers Communications Department.